Le Moine noir

Anton Pavlovitch Tchekhov

The Black Monk - A philosopher obsessed by a legend rejects the mediocrity of reasonable people and sinks into madness. The Terror - Other intellectuals break up their family life like him, finding life incomprehensible. The Old House - We drown ourselves in alcohol, waiting for a better future. The Beggar - We sometimes pull ourselves out of poverty through work. The Bet - A crazy bet leads to a reflection on the meaning of life and freedom. Other stories - We share the dreams of a runaway convict, those of a poor shoemaker who sells his soul. We find Tom Thumb in the adventure of little Anioûtka. This collection also allows us to discover a funny Chekhov. Comedy and social satire are mixed in several stories. It is better not to be a zealous inspector - Oh, the Public!, loving order to excess - Non-commissioned Officer Prichibeev, saying what one thinks - From bad to worse, asking for information without greasing the official's palm - The Inquiry. Does education really save men? We laugh a lot when reading The Exam for Rank, The Exclamation Point, Much Paper, Reading or The Intelligent Porter. Finally, many stories are pure comic theater - The Orator or how to give a funeral eulogy for a living person, The Writer or the art of advertising, The Fermentation of Minds or how a flock of birds takes on unheard-of proportions. Finally, Gentlemen Natives is a play in two acts on the "efficiency" of a watchtower. Chekhov never takes sides, he is content to observe, often with humor, the daily grind, the monotony of days in the provinces.